The Candid Cyclist: Fatbiking, Fatbiking, Fatbiking and more...

(you thought I was going to say fatbiking but I'm not.) Ice Biking. Oh what a season. I haven't posted much lately so I'll just ramble a little here and we'll call it good. This winter really hasn't had a whole lot of snow but it has certainly had enough to make for some great conditions.

I'm not sure why I took this picture.

Fatbike season is my group ride season. I think mountain biking in general tends to be more friendly and inclusive than group road rides. And when done in the winter (usually with a beer at the end) it is even better.

Some early season riding in relatively soft conditions

Did not stop us from riding up Hackers Hill

For the most part I ride back and forth to work. There are some great groomed trail networks within 20 miles from home but I rarely seek them out. Well, this year I decided to go to the Gorham Trails. We ran into a biking friend and he offered to navigate us around and most importantly get us back out. They were a shit ton of fun. The next day I invited myself to a ride at Oxbow brewing in Oxford. The trails were meh but the the location of the beer at the end was exceptional.

So the next week I went back, joined by my wife and 28 other people that I don't know. This was followed by a trip to Sebago Brewing in Gorham.

It was a pretty big herd.

I went out the next morning to run some steam out of the dogs and found freshly groomed trails that had set up like a concrete path through the woods.

"You going to make us keep sitting here or can we run some more?"

The next week had a ride every day, mostly fat. The weather and trails were shaping up to be some great riding so I offered to lead a tour of our local trails for any that were interested. It turns out that a lot were interested but only 6 showed up. We had a fantastic day with about 20 miles of riding that was capped off with a trip to Birchwood Brewing.

The trails were so good that I immediate started making plans to go out the next day. I contacted a friend with the offer of adventure and the possibility of getting lost. Or course he was in. We had another 20 magic miles exploring mostly trails that were new to us. And I only crashed on the ice twice.

This was about the least exciting section to stop and take a picture.

Monday morning rolled around and I had biked the last 9 days in a row so, I decided to ride again.

I don't think the 4-wheelers had seen this poster.

Because a section of trail was mostly ruined

I hesitate to group them all in one category, but whoever did this may have been an asshole.

See, I told you I didn't just fatbike.

I took a trip through a local bog that was built by beavers and used by herons in the summer. Pretty cool place to ride through. I apologize for the slow speed. I was riding one handed and holding my phone in the other.(Best watched on YouTube and not in this little tiny window)